Taming Your Tongue Before Ramadan

The most amazing month of them all is knocking on our door. There are so many things to do yet there is so little time. Have you prepared for Ramadan?

Ramadan is a month that gives Muslims the thought of joy and where Allah subhaana wa ta’aala grants us the ability to change ourselves for the better. It is a month of His Mercy and Forgiveness. The month where we are no longer imprisoned by Shitaan. Still there are some destructive sins in Islam, which are being neglected and are considered as a part of our everyday lives. These sins became a habit among many of us and are not viewed as something evil.

Gossiping about one another became second nature to many people. The imagination of human beings does not have or know a limit when it comes to talking behind someone’s back. At first, an innocent remark may not seem as a big deal yet that ‘innocent’ remark may cause a lot of harm to your self.

Backbiting and slandering is one of the major sins yet it is also one of the main reasons for a meet up with friends. How many times do you talk behind someone else’s back? Let us break this awful habit and tame our tongue for once and for all. Let this Ramadan be the moment for us to control our tongue, ask for forgiveness and change for the better InshaAllah.

“O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion; in deeds some suspicions are sins. And spy not neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah, verily, Allah is the one who accepts repentance, Most Merciful”{Surah Al-Hujuraat 49: Verse 12}

Controlling our tongue is one of the most important aspects we have to keep in mind while being a Muslim. The ayah above shows us that suspicions and backbiting are sins. Nobody would like to eat the flesh of his or her dead brother. We should not be pre occupied with things that do not concern us. Just like the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “From the excellence of a man’s Islam is leaving that which does not concern him.” [Bukhari]
I have always loved the hadith;

“Whoever believes in Allah and the last day let him speak good or remain silent”[Bukhari & Muslim]

and we should always try to do this.Perhaps to control our tongue is one of the hardest things to do but Paradise comes at a price and nobody ever told us that life was going to be easy.

Narrated Sahl bin Sa’d: Allah’s messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Whoever can guarantee (the chastity of) what is between his two jaw-bones and what is between his two legs (i.e. his tongue and his private parts), I guarantee Paradise for him.[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 76, Number 481]

I can hear you thinking, but what if I am telling the truth? I was one of those people who thought that if I would tell only the truth, it would not be gossiping because I was only stating facts, right? I was wrong, even if I was telling the truth it would still be backbiting.

Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Do you know what is meant by Gheebat (Backbiting)?” Companions said, “Allah (SWT) and His Messenger know best.” Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “To say something about your brother which he dislikes.” One asked, “Even if what I say is true about my brother?” Prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam replied, “If such defects you say are true about him, then you have backbitten him, and if he doesn’t have what you say, then you have committed slander against him.”
(Muslim, Abu Dawood, and Tirmidhi)

Ramadan is coming close and we all want our fasting to be accepted. Yet again Allah subhaana wa ta’aala does not find it necessary that the people who backbite abstain from their food and drink.

The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (ie. Allah will not accept his fasting.)” [Bukhari]

The month of Ramadan is filled with blessings and virtues. There are so many hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) where he warns us against our tongues. This Ramadan is the right time for us to tame our tongue just as we restrain our body from food and drink and its desires. Think before you say something or bite your tongue if you have to and seek refuge from Allah so He will guide you to say only that which is good.

Oh Allah make us reach Ramadan and benefit from its blessings, make us change for the better before our soul shall taste death.

Abu Hurairah RA narrated from the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam:“Indeed, the person will verbalize a word, while being unaware of (its penalty), and because of it, he will be put into the hell, farther than the distance between the east and the west”.[Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

Ya Allah we thought this Dunya had so many things to offer,
But instead it has left us empty hearted.
We talked too much, said too little.
Constantly in a hurry,
Time caught us by surprise.
As we stand all alone,
Can’t bear to watch,
Time to pay our dues.
One more chance is all we ask.
Oh the regret, of the words we shouldn’t have said.